


The Collar

by Notasmuch



Series: Sex Nerds [2]
Category: Generation Kill
Genre: BDSM, Domestic Fluff, Feelings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 15:56:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21284315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notasmuch/pseuds/Notasmuch
Summary: It's a metaphor.
Relationships: Brad Colbert/Nate Fick
Series: Sex Nerds [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1534313
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	The Collar

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2, you probably want to read part 1 before you read this or some bits won't make sense. Also that part has all the porn so why wouldn't you. 
> 
> Hot tip: If you don't know what a "dependa" is, don't google it. If you can't figure it out from the context, ask me, and I'll explain it gently.

Brad found it in Nate's box of goodies for "some day." Things Nate bought because he thought they were interesting but not urgent. It was a thick black collar, soft on the inside, with a simple silver buckle, like an ordinary belt. Brad's pull toward it felt pretty urgent. He ignored everything else and pulled it out to touch it before he thought about the why. 

He put the bag back under the bed but kept the collar. Nate was in the living room working on a project, when Brad came in, feeling less than sure about how to proceed. Nate didn't really look up until it became clear Brad wasn't moving. Something in Brad's face had him pushing away from the table before he even noticed the collar. When he did see it, he paused, reassessing. Then he touched Brad's hand, ran his thumb along the soft inside of the collar. 

Brad couldn't find the words to ask Nate to put it on him. Or rather, he had so many words it would come out a mess that Nate would need to analyse. He preferred to rely on Nate's ability to read his face. It hadn't failed him yet. 

"We should talk about this," Nate said as he took the collar and placed it around Brad's neck. Brad hummed and focused on the feeling of leather on his neck and Nate's warm fingers putting it there. 

It felt… Brad closed his eyes for a moment, it felt right. He looked at Nate again, allowed him to keep assessing Brad until he was satisfied. Then he leaned in and kissed Nate lazily, slowly. Nate's fingers touched Brad's neck and the collar again, his other hand landing on Brad's chest, all of it too gentle to be anything but Nate letting Brad take the lead. He smirked and bit Nate's lip sharp enough to snap him out of it. 

"Asshole," Nate said before he grabbed the collar and Brad's shirt and pulled him in for a deeper, rough kiss. Brad moaned as soon as the collar forced him forward and he felt Nate still for a moment, before he bluffed his way through it and held Brad in place for the kiss. 

The kiss went on long enough that he started thinking about dragging Nate into the bedroom. Or onto the floor. But then another random thought crossed his mind and he pulled away. 

"I need to go work on the bike," he said when he pulled away the inch needed to speak. 

Nate blinked and stared at him. Brad felt almost giddy about throwing him for a loop. Nate knew him so well at this point that surprising him was becoming its own kind of kink. This surprise just had an added bonus of being a surprise to Brad too. 

"Now?" Nate asked, still holding him close and looking for signs on Brad's face. 

"Now." Brad smiled, to show he wasn't traumatised, just exploring. 

"Is your bike on fire?" 

"You never know." 

Nate smiled but he didn't look confident about it. Talking about this, that was Nate's thing, Brad knew. He was still looking for words when he felt Nate's fingers on the buckle of the collar, trying to work it open. 

"No!" He grabbed Nate's hand quickly and shook his head. "Leave it on." 

He watched it click for Nate then, which was perfect because he wasn't any closer to finding the right words to describe any of the 'calm, right, settled' he was feeling. 

"Out where anyone could see you?" 

Oh, and that was suddenly hot, when Nate put it that way. Brad nodded. In the summer, it was still light enough outside that anyone could see it, if they were close enough. But their boring residential area rarely had enough people around on a Sunday evening for anyone to really notice or care. 

"Yeah." His voice was noticeably dry and Nate was looking at him with a fire in his eyes now. 

"That works, but here's what I need you to do for me." He waited until Brad nodded again. "Find some words to explain what's going on." 

Brad laughed, feeling an odd, previously unnoticed tension seep from him. "I'll try." 

"Good." Nate smiled and gave him a quick peck before letting him go and going back to his laptop. 

** 

Brad gave himself two hours. He tinkered with his bike, maintenance rather than a fix. Predictably, there were very few people around, but just being out in the open like that gave him a thrill. He did his best, for Nate, to try and understand it. 

It shouldn't be complicated, Brad thought, but it was unexpected. 

As he jogged up the stairs to their flat, he couldn't help but think it was all a part of it. A place to put his bike right next to Nate's, their flat with family approved furniture, neighbors who knew him enough to not give him a second glance. The delivery man who recognized him and put the Thai dinner into his hands instead of walking up, because it was Nate's turn to cook. All these things meant he belonged somewhere, for the first time in a while. And the collar… he touched it as he closed the door behind him and leaned against it. 

"Food!" Nate jumped up and closed the laptop, took the bags from Brad's hands and started opening them up. 

"That's cheating," Brad said, leaning on the bar between them. 

"It's edible is what it is." 

Brad smiled. Nate was getting better but most of the time what he lacked was patience. Which was funny because often "patient" was in the top ten words Brad would use to describe him, but he had a firm philosophy about cooking time versus eating time and no one had been able to change his mind so far. 

Nate eyed the plates for a moment but Brad shook his head, boxes were fine. Food in hand, they moved to the couch and Nate, patiently, waited 'till Brad was chewing before he asked, "So?". 

Brad mock glared, but when he swallowed, he just shook his head. "I don't have it yet." 

"Okay," Nate said. "Was it good out?" 

"Yeah." 

"Did people see?" 

"I didn't notice anyone react if they did. But I wasn't really paying attention. Just being out with…" He shrugged. "It felt good. I didn't need anyone to see." 

Nate nodded and Brad decided to change the topic briefly by asking about Nate's paper. It was, predictably, going better than Nate thought it was. Throughout the dinner, Nate only occasionally stared at him longer than normal and Brad shrugged it off knowing that Nate was always extra observant when something new was on the table. 

With boxes half empty and their bellies full, they sprawled on the couch not bothering to turn the TV on. Brad waited and smirked knowingly when Nate looked at him, questioning. 

"Piss off," Nate said as he moved closer and wrapped one leg around Brad's. 

"No, I like a gentleman and an officer." 

"You are the worst." 

Nate pulled him closer by the collar again and Brad closed his eyes. "That feels good," he whispered. 

"Me being able to pull you around?" 

"Yeah." 

"That is my favorite pastime."

Brad smiled because, it was true. 

Nate kissed him briefly, before he moved back to ask, "What do you need from me,..." and he faltered. 

Brad never loved him more than when he realized Nate wasn't sure what to call him. Because despite appearances, Brad wasn't playing, and Nate understood it even when Brad himself hadn't. 

"Just you." 

Nate smiled bright and jumped on him, pushed him down the couch and Brad was the one who had to drag them to the bedroom a few minutes later when they were slipping down and threatening to topple the table. 

He ended up sitting on Nate's thighs, trying to take his shirt off with Nate interrupting his plans with kisses and too soft touches to Brad's neck and collar. When Brad gave up and took his own shirt off instead, Nate finally used the collar to pull him in again, hold him close enough to be kissed, to frustrate Brad by not really giving him what he wanted. 

"Nate," he groaned. 

"I like having this much control," Nate answered, knowing exactly how Brad felt. 

"Like you don't normally." 

Nate hummed and smiled, satisfied. 

"Imagine if you had a leash," Brad pushed, and felt Nate shiver under him. "You could move me around however you wanted." 

Nate's eyes were sharp on his face but Brad kissed him softly. "It would be fun." 

"It would be hot," Nate agreed. "Even with just the collar, you are… fuck there are no words. I want to stare at you like a priceless painting." 

"You can do more than just stare, you know?" Brad reminded him. 

"I can hardly improve on perfection." 

Brad rolled his eyes. "You can come on my face." 

Nate laughed and flipped them over. "That is certainly not something I should do with a work of art." 

"Something something Pollock something, take your dick out," Brad urged and Nate laughed again as they both pulled his sweats down. 

**

Brad woke up just early enough to turn off the alarm before it went off. He fell back on the bed, making sure to jostle Nate who was awake anyway. Nate took the hint and turned around, wrapped his arms around Brad and breathed sleepily into his neck. 

He could tell they had both forgotten about the collar and were now surprised to see it was still there. 

"It really is ridiculously comfortable," Brad said. 

"That's good, I love seeing it on you" Nate mumbled into his shoulder. "We should probably take it off for work, though." 

Brad hummed, not willing to do that just yet. "I think I like having this tangible, visible proof of us." 

"That makes sense," Nate touched the collar. 

"But not exactly standard uniform, " Brad acknowledged. 

"Shame," Nate said, "would have made deployment so much easier if I could have leashed you all." 

Brad snorted. "I'm telling Poke you said that." 

Nate groaned and bit his shoulder. "Mean." 

Laughing, Brad pushed him away and leaned over for a kiss before he sighed. "You should probably take it off now." 

Nate unbuckled it hesitantly. He kept checking Brad's face to see how he would react. "I'll live," Brad finally said. 

"I know, doesn't mean you have to like it." 

"I don't. But I also don't like leaving you warm in this bed all alone so my life is just one sacrifice after another." 

That got a laugh out of Nate and he finally pulled the collar away. Brad's neck felt cold and he rubbed at the skin, which felt warm but otherwise normal. He wasn't sure what he expected. 

Nate caught his hand and bit his lip looking at it for a moment. Brad didn't lean down to kiss him again. "Maybe, someday, I could put a less ostentatious mark on you." 

It took Brad a moment to translate that but when he did, the whole previous evening tilted a bit in his mind and settled as it found its correct meaning. He wasn't sure what his face was doing but Nate hurried to say "we don't have to sign any papers, officially." 

Brad laughed. "Other than the lease. And the joint bank account. And the mortgage we are planning for. And…" 

"Okay, okay," Nate interrupted with another bite, this time to Brad's fingers. "Excuse me for being concerned for your sensibilities."

"My sensibilities remain unperturbed. However, I see the wisdom in not having either of our parents involved in any aspect of this exchange." 

Nate cringed. "I agree." 

Brad's eyes fell on the clock behind Nate and he sighed. He did have one more question though. "Are we going to be civilized about this or is it about who gets the jump on whom first?" 

Nate narrowed his eyes. "If you get me some overpriced extended loan shit on short notice from the base I'm going to murder you." 

Brad grinned. "No worries baby, only the best for my dependa." 

He was out of the bed and on the cold floor in time that belied Nate's civilian status. He did, however, reach out and pull Nate in for one more kiss before he really had to get up. "I'm in."

**Author's Note:**

> Still not real.  
(Haven't fully proofread it yet, will eventually, but let me know if you catch any horrible typos.)


End file.
